It is a series of fond stories and memories
starting with its absence and the mothers who
would not countenance our engagement without a ring.
Then the jewellers assistant who pointed out the best of the cheap
“The poverty stricken student line of engagement rings”.
And the single small diamond that I grew to love
to know the way it shed light through its carbon heart
that I lost playing in the park one day with our little sons.
You were happy we still had the setting while
I mourned my sparkling companion.
A new stone has lived resplendent in the ring for long enough
that I treasure its own foibles, although it was a stranger at first.
But the cheap gold setting last year faltered, twisted, opened
now lives out its own lockdown in the box
waiting for the Jewellers to re-open.
Copyright © 2021 Kim Whysall-Hammond
My response to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics: Object Poems
The idea is to take an object and focus on the abstract and also give our poems the title ‘THIS IS NOT A…’
We should choose an object from inside the home or outdoors, look past its obvious characteristics and uses, and spare the details. Instead, we should write about the connection it has to us or what it represents: what it means, the memories it holds; the emotions it evokes, etc.
Wonderfully told, Kim. Sorry for your loss, but I think that all the truest jewels are in our minds/memories anyway. Salute!
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At the time it just seemed such a shame that the diamond we had bought together was lost. Now the loss is part of our story too .
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I can relate with the grief that you experienced after losing that diamond. My mother lost hers, a little one like yours, which was one her necklace. She really cried and was sad for WEEKS!
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Yes, that was me at the time too! The home insurance paid for a replacement diamond thank goodness.
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Ah, Kim, I love this. These poems say much more about the writer than the object, I think. I took off all my rings at the start of lockdown – you can’t wash your hands properly with rings on. I wonder if I’ll ever wear them again.
Losing the diamond was sad, but it’s the memories it holds that matter most.
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Yes, they are revealing poems…..
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I love the story behind your ring. The strong sentiment comes through that this is more than an inanimate object, it is a sparkle of light in every day.
Dwight
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That is beautifully put Dwight and very true.
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Kim, your story gets to the heart of the ring as a symbol of love and commitment. It’s not the monetary value as much as the sentiment which we attach to it in the rituals of life and witness of our dedication to our relationship.
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Thank you Rebecca. Instead of my engagement ring I am now wearing a silver Maltese wedding band, bought on our honeymoon, and not worn until now many many years later.
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The Maltese silver wedding band sounds lovely. Wonderful that it holds special memories too!
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Take pride that the love and marriage outlasted the fragile ring. Long after I was widowed, I had my rings melted into a necklace, which I gave my daughter, my way to know our love lives on.
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What a great idea Beverly. I was going to make my Mums three engagement rings and my Dada signet rings into a necklace, but my sons want to keep them all as they are.
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So easy for me to identify as I lost a precious ring given to me years back. I like your ballad with the happy ending of love outlasting the ring. ❤️
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Even in its current state, it will always be a valued keepsake – as it should be.
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Kim- how lovely and touching your poem is.
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Thank you Linda.
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I enjoyed the story of your engagement ring, Kim, never having had one – I would have lost not just the stone but the whole ring! It’s wonderful that you have those memories, even though you lost your ‘sparkling companion’.
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I have lost the first necklace he bought me, and it was very special……from South America. It’s missing from my jewellery box….eeek.
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A marvelous telling of a fond relationship.
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41 years long….
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Oh I could feel the sadness of loss and imagined you searching for the sparkle in the grass. Love shines through it all. I can definitely relate as my wedding ring we had designed lost the turquoise in the middle and just this year, before surgery I had to have my engagement ring cut to get it off.
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We searched and searched! So many people joined in to help, it was wonderful.
Hopefully you can repair your engagement ring….
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Ah, I love that you loved the little diamond. So many today think the ring is what it is all about and impressing others. I’d say you have a strong, lovely marriage.
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Yes they do, it seems. I didn’t actually want a ring at all!
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At least you had an engagement!
I had my grandmother’s wedding ring and thought I’d lost it for years. I used to lie awake at night thinking about ‘it’ as if I’d murdered my grandma. When we found it again I almost cried. It’s strange how much of ourselves we can pour into inanimate objects! Keep your ring safe :)
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That’s the subject of a poem in itself.
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Or a novel!
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I love how much the ring with it’s different gems have become the story of your love together…
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:)
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I like the metaphor of the ring, the changes and loss that happen in life. We rebuild and carry on. The image of the ring shut away in a box during lockdown is poignant.
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Thank you Nikita. I actually now have two gemstone rings (engagement and eternity) that are shut away until Lockdown ends and I can get them repaired. :(
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Hope you don’t have to wait much longer.
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Well… memories is all we make and have at the end of the day it’s more like engagemental memorial ring.
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That’s very true!
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